At the end of an exciting match at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Naples, it ended 1-1 between Napoli and Inter on Sunday, keeping the Scudetto race in Serie A wide open. Inter are still leading the table with a one-point margin on the side coached by Antonio Conte, while Atalanta are still three points behind sitting in third place.
It was a heated game at the Maradona, with Inter scoring the opening goal with a wonderful free kick from Italian defender Federico Dimarco. Napoli pushed more in the second part of the game and deserved to score the equalizer in the last minutes thanks to the first Serie A goal of former Bournemouth Philip Billing, who gave Napoli a key point in front of their fans. Here’s a look at the major moments from Saturday’s game.
Napoli’s late equalizer
Moment of the game
Dimarco scored a stunning free kick in the first half of the match at the Stadio Diego Armando Maradona. Despite a muscular injury he suffered in the first minutes of the second half that led Inter manager Simone Inzaghi to immediately replace him, Dimarco got fourth Serie A goal of the season. And it’s a beauty. Take a look:
Man of the match
Alessandro Bastoni was the man of the match as the Italian defender was crucial for Inter, especially in the first half when he denied Romelu Lukaku his first goal against his former team. Bastoni was subbed off in the last 10 minutes of the second half and a few moments later Napoli scored the equalizer. That’s not a coincidence.
What the result means for Napoli
Napoli, and Inter as well, only needed to avoid a defeat but this draw can give to Conte and his team the motivation for the remaining 11 games of the Serie A season, as they managed to keep the same distance with the rivals. As Inter will also have to deal with the UEFA Champions League and the Coppa Italia, Napoli will only focus on the league and that can give the Azzurri more time to focus one game per week at the time, knowing what could have been a four-point game is still just one.
What the result means for Inter
For Inter, it was a disappointing draw as the Nerazzurri were able to score the opener with Dimarco but then failed to keep the result until the very end. There are even more challenges for the side coached by Inzaghi in the coming weeks for the rotations, especially regarding the injuries as Dimarco is the fourth injured winger after Carlos Augusto, Matteo Darmian and Nicola Zalewski. Inter now face Feyenoord in the round of 16 of the Champions League this week, before playing Monza next Saturday. You can watch Inter in the Champions League and in Serie A all season long with Paramount+.
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